Manhattan 72, Saint Peter's 65: 5 Observations

RaShawn Stores' three-pointer late in the second half swung momentum Manhattan's way as Jaspers outslugged Saint Peter's in overtime. (Photo courtesy of the Manhattan Quadrangle)

In what has become a new tradition of sorts, a handful of observations and nuggets of note from Manhattan's fourth straight win and sixth in their last seven games, a 72-65 overtime victory at Saint Peter's:

• Manhattan's veterans willed the Jaspers to victory.

Steve Masiello made it a point to mention that his upperclassmen stepped up to win a road game, as they should. With 22 points from Emmy Andujar and 21 from Shane Richards, Manhattan got the contributions it needed from its established leaders. Furthermore, the Jaspers are 4-0 this season when Richards scores 20 or more points.

• RaShawn Stores and Donovan Kates both saved the game in the second half.

Stores' NBA-range three-pointer with 3:49 in regulation turned a two-point lead into a comfortable five-point margin, and Kates' awareness without the ball in his hands contributed to several other game-changing opportunities for the Jaspers. "He's a great insurance," Masiello said of Kates. "He can play four positions for you, he can defend multiple positions for you. He knows every spot on every offense, that stuff doesn't show up. He puts my mind at ease, and I can't say how valuable that is for us."

• With Desi Washington and Marvin Dominique ineffective at times...

Another star stepped up for Saint Peter's. This time, it was Elias Desport, who contributed 11 points and seven rebounds to supplement just 10 points from Washington and a 16-point effort from Dominique that was plagued by foul trouble. "He played really well down at Monmouth," head coach John Dunne said of his Swedish power forward import, "and he backed that up with a pretty good, solid game today. It's unfortunate that Dominique was in foul trouble, and what compounded the issue was that Rodney Hawkins was giving us really good minutes at his position, and then he got in foul trouble. That's what Manhattan does to you."

• Both teams face critical battles next time out.

Manhattan may have Saint Peter's number now that they have won nine straight against the Peacocks, but all this game does for the Jaspers is put another tally in the win column, something they could use going into a marquee matchup at Draddy Gymnasium against Rider Sunday afternoon. For Saint Peter's, they get four days off before Quinnipiac comes to the Yanitelli Center Wednesday night to exact revenge from a loss at the TD Bank Center.  "It's another brutal league game that we've got to get ready for," Masiello said of the matchup with Rider. "They're probably playing, them and Iona, are probably playing the best basketball of anyone in the conference. We just want to lay back, get better every time we take the basketball court and grow, and continue to do what we've done in the past."

• Free throws and three-point defense.

For the third consecutive game, those were two backbones of Manhattan's winning effort. Even though Niagara made six threes against the Jaspers on Saturday, Saint Peter's was limited to 3-of-14 shooting from beyond the arc, and held without a trifecta for the final 22:43 after Desi Washington's three-ball just 2:17 removed from halftime. At the charity stripe, Manhattan backed up their consistency of recent games, making all but four of their 25 attempts.